Secrets Unlocked
by xdellaforex
Summary: CH. 4 IS FINALLY HERE! Danielle has lived in Cair Paravel for a few months, but when she discovers a locked door, she can't help but be suspicious. Once she encounters it, she knows danger is everywhere and must stop a rising evil before it's too late.
1. Suspicions Arising

CHAPTER ONE

Narnia had to be one of the most wonderful lands in the entire universe. For one, it was beautiful, and after the fall of the white witch, everything seemed to be at peace. The rolling hills and a sky full of white clouds showed serenity and comfort. The castle of Cair Paravel was a place of royals and elegance; were the Kings and Queens of Narnia lived.

This is probably why no one ever suspected a terrible secret to be hidden behind its walls.

Even _I _may have not discovered it, even for the adventurous and clever girl of fifteen that I was all those years ago. Of course, I do not remember every detail of my adventure, but I do recall my suspicions arising on the day of Queen Susan's fifteenth birthday….

I stood in Queen Susan's room on the chilly October night, chatting with the royal as she began getting ready for the party. "What do you think of this?" She asked, holding up a royal blue gown to her chest. "I think it'll do, don't you agree?" she added as she closed the doors of her wardrobe. "It's nice; plus it matches your crown," I said, noting the beautiful gold designs that bordered the neckline.

Susan slipped the velvet gown over her under-dress as there was a knock on the door. No sooner did I recognize the voice of Susan's eight year old sister, Lucy. "Susan," she called, "Its Lucy. Can I come in?" Knowing Susan's answer would be 'yes' I opened the door and the little queen bounced in. "Hi Danielle!" she greeted to me, then her focus turned to Susan, who had just finished getting ready by placing her golden crown on her dark curls. "You look beautiful!" exclaimed Lucy, looking at her sibling with admiration. After a moment she continued, "Peter and Edmund wanted me to tell you that it's time for you to get ready to make your entrance." "Oh!" Susan exclaimed as she pulled on her shoes, "Let's go."

So Susan, Lucy and I set down the long corridor. "This is confusing." Lucy commented. It was true, we had only been in Cair Paravel for a few months, and didn't exactly know it like the back of our hands. "Well, lets go this way. There is a door at the end of this hall," I offered as we turned a corner. Once we reached the door, Lucy tugged on the handle. "It's…. locked." She said with a raised brow. "That's not possible," Susan said, worried of being late to her own party, "It's probably just stuck." After a moment of pulling on the door, Susan was proved wrong. The door was indeed locked. I remember feeling a cold chill flash down my spine. Something in my heart told me that there was a big problem here. But before I could say a word about it, a fawn in a green scarf came down the hall- Mr. Tumnus, a friend of Queen Lucy and part of the royal court.

"Ah," he said, "There you are! Come this way, the public is awaiting your entrance!"

And with that he led the three of us down the hall and away from the door.

(……)

"Isn't this just a wonderful party?" Lucy asked as she sat down next to me at one of the long tables. "It's great." I said, not really in a happy mood after the door incident. Lucy sensed my discomfort. "What's wrong?" she asked, "You look awful." I wanted to tell Lucy my suspicions, but it just seemed silly. So what if a door was locked, even if it was the only one like that in Cair Paravel?


	2. A helpful Reunion

**I would like to thank MURIEL CANDYTUFT for being the first to review this story, Thanks for the great review!**

CHAPTER TWO

"You looked so sad during the party, are you alright?" Susan and I had just finished getting ready for bed, and I stopped by to say goodnight.

"Really, Susan, I'm okay."

Okay, that was a lie. But it was necessary, right? There was absolutely no reason for me to lose my head over a door that wouldn't open. "Well, anyway," Susan said, "Goodnight and I'll see you in the morning."

So I bid goodnight to Susan and walked to my room. I sat there for a moment, thinking. _It is only a door! No need to waste your time pondering over it! It's nothing mysterious. _I tried listening to myself, as I tried to achieve sleep. But after long moments of tossing and turning I knew it wouldn't be that easy. Then a thought came to me. _Just go and see if the door is really juststuck, end your suspicions right now and get some sleep. _

No sooner I found myself tip-toeing across the hall, with the light of my glowing candle as a guide. I turned the corner and there I knew the door was waiting. Fear suddenly formed in my stomach and for a moment I thought I should just give in and go back to bed. _No. _I convinced myself; _ban your fears of this silly door once and for all_. I continued, and there was the door, just as Susan, Lucy and I had left it. I tugged on the door.

I didn't really know if I was to expect it opening. I placed my candle down on the floor in order to pull with both hands. It still wouldn't budge. _Okay good, just a stuck door. _I seemed to have my final answer. I retrieved my candle and walked back to my room. Once I was safe and sound in my own comfortable room I laid down on the bed, and tried to fall asleep.

But something still told me this door business wasn't over yet.

(……)

The sun through my window awoke me early the next day. As I waked down to the garden I realized that everyone else was still sleeping. I breathed in the sent of the fresh air and flowers around me, trying to clear my head.

"Danny!" I heard a voice call. I looked up to see Dealias, an old man who was a friend of my parents before they died. I walked to where I heard the voice, around the corner of one of the tall rose bushes. "Dealias!" I exclaimed, happy to see the kind and cheerful face. He seemed to have that grandfatherly look to him, a large tummy and a white beard and a smile that seemed to never fade off his face. At the sight of me, he dropped the gardening tools he was holding and opened his arms. "Isn't it little Danielle Bennett. Well I guess not really little any more, are you?"

I hugged him; he seemed just the same, even though I hadn't seen him for seven years at the time. "It so good to see you!" I said. "I haven't seen you for…" He cut me off happily, "I haven't seen you in so long, about ten years or so!"

We walked in the garden for what seemed like hours, catching up on what happened for over the years. As it turned out, after my parents died when I was twelve, Dealias was asked to work as the ground keeper at Cair Paravel. I told him how, after traveling with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (who I had met at my parents' funeral) for a long time, they introduced me to the Pevensies when I was around the age of thirteen. Susan and I had become best friends and soon later the beavers had gone on along journey, and Susan invited me to stay with her for the time, which brought me to that day.

"Danny," Dealias said, taking my hands in his, "I am so sorry for leaving you after Katherine and Willis passed away, I…"

"Really, it's alright." I said, and then changed the subject. "I still can't believe we've been in the same place for so long and haven't met." "Oh, yes," Dealias agreed, "But then again I've been very busy with my work, tending the gardens….holding the keys."

Those last words got my attention. "What?" I asked. "Oh," the old friend said, wondering what I had got so abruptly excited about, "I keep the keys." At first I thought of dancing around the subject, and then objected it. I should just get straight to the point.

"What do you know about that locked door, on the third floor?"

"Oh," said Dealias. Was it my imagination or were his hands shaking?

"Dealias…?"

"Oh, it's nothing, simply a storage room."

So he had heard of it. But why would a storage room be locked. "Why is it locked, it's _only _a storage room." Dealias turned to pick up his tools at a fast pace. "It's nothing to ponder over, Danny."

"But, if it's nothing then…"

"For the last time, it's nothing!"

I was shocked. I had never ever heard Dealias use a tone like that before. Before I could say anything else about it, Dealias had turned the corner. I knew that if I were to keep on talking, it had to be on another topic, so I caught up with him. "I'm sorry, Dealias," I said, trying to look incredibly apologetic. "It's alright." He said, and I knew that _he _wasn't faking.

(…..)

I stayed with Dealias in his hut the rest of the day. It was roomy, but obviously hadn't been cleaned in awhile. Gardening tools were all around the room, and a rung of keys were hung on a hook beside the door. As I sipped my tea at the table, I stared at the keys and thought of something.

I put my tea cup down on the table as calmly as I could, trying to look as if I wasn't up to anything.

"thank you for the wonderful tea," I said, "but I should get going, Susan is probably wondering where I am."

So after bidding goodbye to Dealias, I ran from the hut as quickly as I could so the kind old man would not see the rung of keys I held in my hand.


	3. The Key

**I just realized that I forgot to give the DISCLAIMER….I do not own any of these characters, they are property of the truly gifted C.S. Lewis. But I do own Danielle Bennett, Dealias and Pervis the guard. Thanks! **

CHAPTER THREE

I felt terrible about stealing the keys from Dealias, but I knew I had to. Once I ran from the hut, I found Susan practicing Archery in the fields. "Susan!" I called. "Oh, there you are," Susan replied, "I was starting to get worried."

"I was talking to the garden tender, Dealias." I told her, and I suddenly became worried that she might notice the rung of keys that were protruding from my dress pocket.

Susan and I didn't say much for awhile as she continued practicing her aim. I picked up one of the extra bows and arrows that were on the ground and joined her. "Oh, Danielle," she said, "I almost forgot, one of the guards, Pervis, I think his name is…" "I know him," I said, thinking of the cranky old guard. He never liked me very much. In fact, I think on the third or fourth week that I was staying in Cair Paravel, I heard him mutter, "Stupid girl, too curious for her own good…" I didn't know what he meant at that time, little did I know that later in this adventure I would find out.

"…anyway, he said he heard someone rooming around the halls."

"Wasn't me." I told her. Another lie, it was starting to bother me that it seemed I'd be doing a lot of this fibbing later on.

Well I didn't have time to think about lying, I had to concentrate on when I was going to open the door…if the keys worked, that is. I shouldn't go during the night again, for I supposedly attracted attention from one of Narnia's head guards.

Once dinner time came around, I realized that it was now or never. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were all busy eating and the guards weren't on such high patrol until later. I rose from my chair, "I don't feel so well," I said, trying to look the four kings and queens in the eyes, 'I'm going to get some rest, good night." I walked quickly from the room before anyone else could say anything.

(……..)

By the time I was sneaking down the hall, the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains. I turned the corner on the third floor.

_Good, _I thought, no one was to be seen.

I crept down the hall and there the door was. For a moment it seemed to be laughing at me.

_Ha ha, _It seemed to be saying, _I fooled you! I'm just an ordinary storage room! All the thinking you're done about me! For nothing! Ha, ha ha….._

I tried to ignore it, knowing it was just my own silly thoughts. I retrieved the keys from my pocket and slid the first one in.

To my disappointment, it didn't slid in all the way.   
I tried the next and the next, but got the same result. There was only one key left, and I heard foot steps echoing down the hall- someone was coming up the stairs.

I jammed the last key as quickly as I could. I shut my eyes, praying it was the one I need. I turned the key….

And the door opened with a soft _click_.


	4. When the Door Unlocks

**I'm so sorry I haven't been updating. Anyway, I'm weighing the ideas of a romance in this story…anyway, here's chappie 4. R/R please!**

CHAPTER FOUR

Once I closed the door I seemed to be eaten by darkness. I couldn't even see my own hand. I knew that if I ran back out into the hall whoever was walking out there would find me and…well; it wouldn't turn out too good. I felt around, trying to find the window curtains.

I walked around in circles, hands out in front of me. I took three cautious steps to the right- and soon found the dusty velvet in my hands. I pulled open the curtains and the moon-lit sky filled the room with a spooky-blue light. My eyes immediately adjusted and I could take in the room.

There was an old bed in one corner, a desk (which I realized I had come close to bumping into it, it was very close to the window in which I was standing by) and a bookcase filled with dusty old books. The room had clearly been vacated for a long time – definitely more then a few years. I opened one of the desk draws curiously, only to find dried mouse droppings in its corner. I closed it in disgust, and walked over to the bookcase.

I ran my finger across the book's spines, reading the golden embossed titles. _Narnia and It's Histories, Man: a Myth, Royals through the Ages, _and so on.The shock of this locked room suddenly made me dizzy; I sat down on the bed, wrinkly the covers for the first time in what seemed like ages. Trying to find comfort, I grabbed the white pillow and squeezed it.

After I seemed to calm down I realized that something was hidden under the covers.

It was a small brown leather book. The strap that held it closed was faded and tattered, as if the owner had kept it for a very long time. I flipped open to one of the yellowed pages; curved bold script covered the entire page. I began to read what the diary said…

_profundus veneficus mos fio laxo quod niveus mos evinco insuadibilis filius totus of narnia ero super verto quod jadis' dictata ero philologus quod quondam cair minae est evinco nunc mos orior oriri ortus scelestus_

It didn't make sense, the words unclear. But I knew it was something important, dangerous even. I flipped through the rest of the book, looking for a clue of what this was. Soon a picture caught my eye. It was a picture of what looked like a thin icicle incrusted with silver and diamonds. Next to the detailed illustration was more writing, but this time in a different hand. As I continued, I saw many other drawings and spells, also in many different fonts.

I had meant to turn the page again, until the sound of wheezed breathing reached my ears.

Someone was just outside the door.

I watched in horror as I saw the door knob begin to turn….

And someone walked into the room.

I had no idea what I had saved myself from if I hadn't hidden behind one of the long curtains. _Pervis_, I realized once I heard his wheezy voice mutter to himself. He turned to leave, but then turned and looked about suspiciously. I held my breath. I heard a sharp gasp from pervis as he registered that someone had sat on the bed. I could swear he saw me…but he just turned on his heel and left, and I got a mere glimpse of a look of alarm on the old guard's face.

I got up quietly and breathed a sigh of relief. I could not come back here, for now, anyway. Pervis already had his eye on me, and now he knew someone was here. I put the mysterious book into my pocket and made way for the door. As I closed it quietly, a thought came to my head,

_Why had pervis been so suspicious, and why did he seem to look so alarmed when he realized that someone had been there?_


	5. Madame Rosalie

CHAPTER FIVE

The words replayed over and over again in my mind as I tried to sleep. _Profundus veneficus mos fio laxo quod niveus mos evinco insuadibilis filius totus of…_

What is it? What does it all mean? I had no idea, and the thoughts did not become clearer as I sat through the night, tossing and turning with terrible thoughts controlling me. I had to find out what it meant. All the possibilities of the door meaning nothing had vanished. This mystery was real. And the diary I found and the door were at it's center. But all the information I had meant nothing. I needed help, and from someone who was older and wiser then me.

(….)

The next day I told Susan I was visiting an old friend of mine for the day, and probably wouldn't be back till nightfall. "Alright." Susan had said, "I'd love to join you, but there is this big meeting about the well-fare of dwarfs up north today that I can't miss…" Which ended up working perfectly. I just didn't think it was a good idea to have too many people knowing about this. If I told Susan, she'd tell her siblings and Peter and Edmund would want to know what on earth was going on and if I told them they would tell the royal court and…well, you get the picture.

I managed to make it to Tashban by the afternoon, and from there I found the place in which I was looking for.

MADAME ROSALIE

TELLER OF THE GREAT BEYOND AND FORTUNE READER.

The sign above the door read. I pushed through the door and was delighted by the warmth I was greeted with as the door closed behind me. The sweet smell of lavender and wine filled my nostrils as an old women's voice reached my ears. "Ah, who has come to Madame Rosalie in search of truth and a joyful future?" I turned the corner and saw a round wooden table, covered in what must have been an old window curtain. At the table sat an old woman, who must have been Madame Rosalie. "Why hello," she greeted me, "Have you come to seek the help of the great Madame Rosalie?"

I sat down opposite of her on a termite-eaten stool and said "Uh, yes. You see, I…" "No need to waste your breath, dear girl, I know why thee has come." Her dark face detailed with many wrinkles gave a smile, a twinkle in her eyes. "Now where is this troubled book of yours?" she asked.

My eyes widened in amazement, this women was for real. "Oh, uh…here," I took the book from my bag and handed it to the woman. "Ah," Madame Rosalie turned the book over in her hands in wonder. "This book has survived through many ages…passed through many people I see…there is one particular section that have been bothering you, I presume?"

"Yes, there is."

"Hm," the wise woman looked up at me with a mysterious smile. "Would you like to hear what is says?" I nodded, and I was surprised when the old women got up and began to fiddle with strange bottles on a table I hadn't realized was there.

"I m going to make the perfect mixture to uncover the secret of the book of yours," she said, most likely reading my mind.

"Oh,"

"I'm going to need this…" the Madame said as she picked up a bottle in which held a murky-colored substance.

No sooner, Madame Rosalie had set up a black caldron onto the table, and began to pour various potions into it. A light wind began to blow and I looked about, the window or the door was not open. "It is working." Madame Rosalie gave a happy cackle as she held out her hand for the book. I handed her the leather-bound journal and for a moment I watched in horror as she dropped the book into the caldron.

"What?"

"Quiet your tongue!" the woman ordered and the mysterious wind blew a final time, putting out all the candles in the room.

It was working.

Madame Rosalie took a step towards the now luminous pot, and breathed in its fumes. "Ahhh," she sighed, "Come closer, my child." I came reluctantly, almost afraid of what would happen when I did. Madame Rosalie breathed in the smoke a final time. "Now," she whispered, "I must-."

I looked in horror as Madame Rosalie's eyes widened, her face turned pale and her body shook with power. She coughed terribly as if she were choking and grabbed me in an almost urgency. I tried to stifle my scream as the mysterious women began to recite the passage in the book in a horrible, chilling voice…

"The deepest – magic - will be-become undone – and the Wh-whitch will defeat Adam's – Son – all of Narnia – will – be overturned," the women gasped and shook my shoulders incredibly hard, "and – Jadis-'s lesson – will be learned. The light from the pot flickered, and by this time Madame Rosalie began to shout, "AND ONCE CAIR PARAVEL IS DEFEATED – SOON WILL RISE THE WICKED!" Madame Rosalie shrieked in a terrible voice and fell to the ground. I was too shocked to scream, I didn't know what to do. Was she dead? Did I _kill_ her? "Madame -." I started to say, teaching out my hand to help her up. "_Don't you dare touch me!_" The once calm women shouted as she got from the cold floor. Madame Rosalie's first sparkling eyes were now wide with a fearful rage. "_Get out of my house you child of filth,_" she shrieked, "_No witch such as you shall ever curse my doorstep!_"

"Madame, what…"

"_Get out you vile creature!_"

"WHAT ARE YOU…"

Before I could choke out my words, Madame Rosalie had taken the book, and me, and shoved us from the room and out into the cold October night.


End file.
